today. >> yeah. i think we can learn a lot from what happens today. it's a big day in dallas as well on many levels. many different presidents, former presidents coming and joining him. it will be an important day. >> twitter has noticed. >> very well behaved in the interview where you burst in the door as if you thought the ceiling was going to crush you. >> i was scared. chuck todd's live in dallas now. and so let's go to chuck. i'm sure he won't ask anybody about obesity down there today. chuck todd live in dallas, stick around. the show will change your life. bill clinton's there. this is a place to educate people, to explain some of the decisions i made, to talk about the principles that guided me. but also to encourage people to serve. ultimately history will judge whether krit you ccritics are r wrong. but this is a place to educate people. >> good morning from the campus of southern methodist university

right here in dallas, texas, where this morning the five presidents, obama, clinton, carter and bush senior will gather to pay tribute to the 43rd president of the united states and dedicate officially the george w. bush presidential center. i'm chuck todd. thursday, april 25th, 2013. special edition of "the daily rundown." there's at least one thing democrats and republicans can agree on. george w. bush has a consequential presidency. the agreement usually stops there. for years as bush's popularity plummeted with the public, bush himself said he'd wait for history to judge his presidency. for more than four years, he has stayed under the radar allows himself to be a political punching bag at times. first for democrats then for republicans. but today with the unveiling of the george w. bush presidential library and museum. he begins his effort to shape history's judgment. the former president is ready to defend his most controversial decisions from the iraq war to his tax cuts. social security reform to the wall street bailout and one of the largest expanses of the federal government in decades,

homeland security. the library has been designed to challenge the conventional wisdom on his presidency. but will the public listen? the republican party is still struggling to deal with the aftermath of the bush presidency. president obama has successfully run against his predecessor not once but twice. many argue that without president bush there would never have been a president obama, just like without president carter there would not have been a president reagan. so we will watch it now. but the gop needs a george w. bush again. they need him to begin to repair his image. by the way, if he does want to run for president in 2016 then his brother jeb really, really needs this. when the republican party outlined its problems after the 2012 election the things rnc chairman reince priebus called for harkened back to a republican party george w. bush tried to usher in in 2000. modernize iize conservatism. "meet the press's" moderator

david gregory. tod "today" show co-host matt lauer is there for coverage of the library dedication. matt, i think we have our unexpected news of the day from mama bush in what barbara bush said about -- about -- about jeb bush about no more bushes. i want to start with, you've been through this museum. what is the one thing that you would be spending the most time on if you were just going through as an average american? >> well, i think david will agree with this. because we were both in a bit of a run-through yesterday afternoon. there is this decision points theater, chuck. in that the visitor gets to go -- there's an enormous hd screen on the wall. you stand at individual screens as well. and what they want you to do is they want to take a look back at some of the most difficult and controversial decisions of the bush presidency. namely, whether you send federal

troops into new orleans after katrina. whether you invade iraq. whether you do the troop surge in iraq. then the bank bailout. it's a multimedia situation where you use the latest technology and they give you information on both sides, although, david, i think some people might argue whether the information is equal on both sides. then you're put in the position or the president is basically asking you, what would you do? you have a time limit. it takes on a bit of a game show feel. then you have to make sure decision. they announce not only what the audience and the visitors in that room did, but then the president comes back on the screen and explains why he made the call he made. >> hey, david, i want to play for you something president bush said to matt about an hour or so ago about iraq. here's what he said. >> do you think you'll convince the people who thought that was an unjust war, the wrong war at the wrong time, that perhaps you were right? >> look, the whole purpose is to lay out the facts as i saw them

at the time. and people will make their own judgments. some will agree, some will disagree. i will give you my judgment. removing saddam hussein was the right decision and the world is better off without him in power. >> iraq and president bush and his legacy. it's always going to be tied together. and can it ever be seen in a nonnegative light? >> i think it's going to be very difficult. i thought matt asked a very interesting question of the president this morning. and that is, do you want a second look? particularly on iraq. i don't know that the president gets a second look on iraq. and it is striking as you go through the museum. the 9/11 piece of it is obviously so compelling because the events were so compelling. the sense of how the government and the country changed as a result of those attacks. but iraq is not separated. it's all conflated with the war on terror. which is exactly the criticism that was leveled at this administration. that they conflated these two

issues when they were very separate. i think what the president said is instructive. he's not looking to rehabilitate his image over iraq. he's saying to visitors here and to the country, i made a decision. i thought it was right. i thought it was connected to this broader struggle. you decide. and i think this decision points theater as matt describes may be imperfect in its execution in that regard. i think it is a nod to those vis critics and a nod to those that will have to wrestle with whether that was the right call. >> i think it's fascinating. it's not something many presidents would do which is to sort of attempt to take some of the more controversial stuff head on. matt, i got to play the clip with you with the three generation of bush women. we've always known barbara bush was the most blunt talker and speaker of all of them. you asked her about jeb bush running for president. here's what she said. >> mrs. bush, would you like to see your son, jeb, run? >> he's by far the best qualified man. but no. i really don't. i think it's a great country.

there are a lot of great families. and it's not just four families or whatever. there are just -- there are other people out there that are very qualified. and we've had enough bushes. he is the most qualified, but i don't think he'll run. >> all right. matt, full disclosure, david and i were watching this. david and i were watching this together. our mouths fell open. what were the reactions of the other three women there? >> well, you know, what's funny, we were sitting there and i was talking to jenna bush about the possibility of jeb running. she was kind of talking, and i could see that barbara bush wanted to speak and finally jenna looked over and said, i'm surprised we haven't heard from gamma yet. all i had to do was look at her and she went -- i think the reaction from them was the reaction from you. she's always known to speak her mind, barbara bush. they were not surprised by it. the blunt tonefi n fial finality probably did catch them by surprise.

i don't know where jeb is this morning. if he was watching it might have caught him by surprise as well. >> can i just say, george bush, president bush, said to a group of us at one time, this was in the context of the 2008 election, that americans don't tend to go back, they go forward. i think whether it's hillary clinton or anyone bearing a bush name, that is going to be a challenge. it's partly the idea of going back. i think that barbara bush spoke to that. and it is, of course, the legacy of george w. bush. which is always going to be a divisive legacy in terms of his service. because of how monumental the times were and how controversial his decisions. >> all right. matt lauer and david gregory here. as we cover this historic event. a gathering of five presidents. a presidential library dedication, doesn't matter which side of the aisle you're on, it is a fun moment i think to watch for american history buffs, anyway. thank you both. the library dedication is also a family reunion of sorts. for the bush team. many advisers who helped design and implement the president's policies, they're here. and i've got two of them.

margaret spelling, secretary of education in bush's second term. and anita mcbride served as chief of staff for first lady laura bush. welcome to both of you. secretary spellings, i want to start with you. education was a passion of governor bush's when he was in texas. a passion when he got into office. the one part of the domestic agenda that didn't get interrupted by national security. what are you most proud of and what do you wish you could go back and do again? >> and stands to this day, no child left behind, of course, still the law of the land 13 years later. it's also something obviously mrs. bush has cared so much about and worked so hard on. i'm most proud because we have really focused more intently on closing the achievement gap than ever before. we've used the federal role to talk about this new civil right to confront the soft bigotry of low expectations as president bush has famously said. i'm proud it's prominently featured in the library. i think people will really enjoy

that part. >> it's been interesting. every time that jeb bush visits with president obama, he comes out and he singles out that there is -- there is unity there. we're always looking for all the divides in politics. there seems to be some interesting unity in policies between the obama administration and -- >> exactly. i think it's another example of, you know, coming together. no child left behind passed the senate by a wildly bipartisan margin with senator kennedy and senator greg taking the lead and congressman boehner and miller in the house. you know, those things are all too rare these days. i think it's an exemplar of how washington works in a policy sense and how to get stuff done. >> anita, you're obviously very close to the former first lady. everybody's who's gone through this museum says this is not the george w. bush presidential library but i've heard it should be called the george w. and laura bush presidential library. is that fair? >> she certainly had a lot to do. when you're chair of the design committee and the architecture committee and the landscape exit tee, then i think you have

something to do with it. >> keeps giving her more titles i noticed in some of these interviews. >> because he trusts her. they're partners in life and they're professional in their public life and private life. i looked over at margaret when you were showing clips of the library. that schoolhouse of no child left behind, that was something mrs. bush felt was very important to be there. >> for us in washington, you drive by and it always was right there. kind of neat to see. anita, one of the things that's surprising about this library, i'm a history buff and a junky, not a lot of the personal stuff. is that because there's another george bush library that covers that? >> no, no. of course not. you know what, this was always intended to be, president bush said very clearly to mrs. bush and everyone on the team, this is not a monument to me. this is a place where the presidency is heralded. it's a gift to the american people. it was turned over yesterday officially to the archives and record administration as a museum for the american people.

but there are a lot of things that do talk about their private life. and it's a very optimistic looking museum. when you come in. and it shows what the president came with his passions about for the american people when he became president. then you turn the corner and see the signature event that changed everything. 9/11. >> it's also a public policy institute that's absolutely forward looking on the things that -- >> there are some things that the institute wants to work on. one of them's education. walk me through some of that. >> education, global health, human freedom. it's all centered around the core values of freedom. he'll talk about that some this morning. economic freedom and prosperity. the opportunity to be free, live our dreams. opportunity to be well and free from disease. those are the things that they're going to work on for many, many years. i hope decades to come. >> there's a new report card system that the institute has already put out on education, right? an international scorecard? >> there is. they put out an international scorecard. you know, i think the thing about george bush and the essence of no child left behind is to continue to hold ourselves

accountable for meeting the needs and expectations of the american families. whether it's in health, whether it's in economic development and prosperity or education. we'll continue to be on the front lines of that, i suspect. >> anita, on the humanitarian front i know that president bush and laura bush were talking about going to africa for a third time since they've left the presidency. what is the -- specifically the aids is what he worked on and funded while in office. but they're doing some other things in africa. >> we all know the president's emergency plan for aids relief, the largest single commitment to a single disease really in the history of the world. it's provided a platform to save millions of lives in africa. but it also provided a platform of an infrastructure to treat other diseases. where women now are being saved from aids. and babies saved from aids. but women were dying of cervical cancer. that was unacceptable to the president. so this platform provides another area of treatment, diagnosis. that will save even that many more people. they're very proud of it.

and it really does have a legacy. the president of ghana was here last night talking about -- he just had back surgery but he said i will be here. he saved my people. i want to be here. >> we got a whole hour dedicated to this. looking at the life and legacy of president george w. bush. up next, we're going to talk to the team who designed and built this library from the ground up. we've got a cool little time lapse video, actually, you're going to look at right now. it's from earthcam.net. it is just fascinating to watch. more than two years of construction that became this $250 million complex. which includes the president's library, museum and policy institute. watching "the daily rundown" live from the george w. bush presidential center right here on msnbc. >> when you win, there is a -- a feeling that the people have spoken and embraced your point of view. and that's what i intend to tell the congress. it's like earning capital.

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my fellow citizens, at this hour american and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm iraq, to free its people, and to defend the world from grave danger. >> throughout the hour we'll be showing you some of the more famous quotes from the bush presidency. but we're back live now from the george w. bush presidential center here in dallas, texas. the invasion of iraq, of course, was a key moment in the bush presidency. and one of the decisions featured in the museum in one

interactive exhibit we've been telling you about. visitors can sort through the same intelligence the president had at the time before reaching a decision on their own about what to do about it. you have to do it all in under four minutes. mark landale is president of the george w. bush foundation. gerald turner is president of southern methodist university. and robert stern is the architect of the bush presidential center. welcome, gentlemen. i will start with you, mr.lingdale. so you took on this job. why did you pick smu? i understand baylor, texas tech. what made smu stand out when you guys decided to go here? >> it's a great university. it's in a great city. it's a decision that the bushes made. he likes to say it was because of the fact that it was a great university, but also laura bush is alumni. >> that helped a little bit. a few insider lobbyists there.

>> i think dallas had a lot to do with it and the amount of support he has here. the airport, light rail that's right across the road from us. and he knew that he had a lot of support in the greater dallas area. >> so, mr. stern, when you were designing the building, what were you told to sort of have influence you and how do you feel like it's reflected in what we see today? >> well, president turner has a very strong sense of the georgian qualities of his georgian campus. he fights very hard to keep it intact. he's done a great job. so that was the context for the new building. but, of course, the bushes and myself wanted to make something that was unique to the bush library and center. so we tried to -- i tried to create a balance. go between the tradition of the georgian and something that was unique to the bush building. used similar materials. brick, limestone. we have a central feature that

echoes the dome on dallas hall, but is different. its own square lantern has become a landmark already here in dallas. >> mr. turner, it does -- you walk around campus, it fits in and yet it sticks out. isn't that right? >> what we talked about all the time was that it would be compatible with but different from. and i think bob stern really achieved that. i was so thankful when he was chosen to be the architect for it. because i knew being a university guy himself, dean of the yale law architecture school, he understood context on universities. i couldn't be happen ner wiier >> mark, the design inside, for instance, when you get to the 9/11 part, it's meant to be abrupt. just sort of the way the attacks themselves were. >> well, that's history. president bush was elected as a successful two-term texas governor. and he ran on a domestic agenda. education reform, low taxes. >> even talked about sort of not retreating from the world, but it was not going to be a focal point so we thought.

>> that's right. then you turn the corner and reality, history really changed the trajectory of his presidency and the history of america. >> what's your favorite part of the museum? >> i like the 9/11 exhibit because it reminds people of what happened. i like the juxtaposition between the presidency he intended and the one he got. the oval office will be really popular. my favorite part is the decision parts theater. it really lets people put themselves in the seat of being the president. they get the same facts president bush got, the same briefings. then they get to decide what they would have done on the financial crisis or the invasion of iraq, things of that nature. >> mr. stern, what are you most proud of? >> i'm proud of the whole thing, of course. but it's -- it's a very big building, as you probably know. but i'm proud of the fact that it doesn't read like a gigantic building. it seems small and inviting to the public. right behind us where we're sitting is the main public entrance. but over on the west side of the building, facing the campus of smu, there's another entrance which is to the institute, which

invites students and faculty to come in. so i think that's great. and then the last part, of course, is the way it faces the new park that michael van balkenberg designed. >> how did you learn from -- state of texas, always proud to be bigger, has three presidential libraries now. one at texas a&m, one at umc of texas. what did you take away from the lbj library, george bush's library. >> i think particularly the ut library is so much a part of that campus. a&m it's a little bit on the south side. but i think working together, you get a tremendous synergy between the faculty and students and the library and in our case institute as well as the museum. so i think the interactivity between the two allows you to recruit outstanding faculty and researchers and a lot of students are very attracted to the presence of that opportunity. i mean, this is an incredible

resource for our faculty and staff and students. >> and you expect it will become a recruiting, something that will help you get more students, raise your standards more, all of those things? >> we're not trying to get bigger. we just always try to get better. certainly its visibility helps a number of students get interested. so just in the time since the ground breaking, we've had a number of people who visited for the ground breaking, their students have applied to smu. we've had a number of media whose students have applied to smu. you've been here to cover it also. >> very interesting. all right. my kids are under 10. we're not thinking about that yet. >> never too early. >> mark langdale, gerald turner, robert stern. thank you all. congratulations on a successful and wonderful day. you even orchestrated the weather. >> we're really lucky with that piece. we're just about an hour and a half away from the start of the program here. five living presidents all will be here. we've got much more to come in this special edition of "the daily rundown" live from the bush library. first, the 16 words from

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bush. then president clinton. president obama will speak just before noon eastern. then george w. bush will wrap up the program as the final speaker. president obama and first lady michelle obama actually arrived in texas last night. they headed first to a dnc fundraiser. after today's dedication ceremony they'll travel to baylor university in waco for a public memorial service honoring the 14 people killed in last week's explosion in west, texas. ten of the victims were first responders. as many as 4,000 firefighters are expected to attend the service along with texas governor rick perry. the service is scheduled for 3:15 eastern. the obamas will return to washington this evening. we're going to be back with the team that managed the message during president bush's years in the white house as well as during the m ka pain. first, a little trivia. who was the last person to beat george w. bush in an election? first person to tweet the correct answer to @chucktodd and

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i can hear you! i can hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people -- [ cheers and applause ] >> -- and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. >> welcome back to dallas. that iconic moment at ground zero came just three days after 9/11 and helped gal va niz the american people. the events of 9/11 and the subsequent days and months are a prominent part of the museum. the bullhorn itself the president used at ground zero is

one of the artifacts on display. tony fratto was deputy assistant to president bush. deputy white house press secretary sarah fagan. all familiar faces on the show. all right. mark, first thing that -- that made you smile when you walked into that museum? >> the first thing that made me smile was the -- >> i caught you off guard. >> i was thinking of the most profound moment which is the steel beams from 9/11. >> i know that. i get that. >> the baseballs. i guess the president's baseball. just because that was -- it's something you don't expect in a presidential library. it very much reflects his -- his interests. >> one of the few personal things that are in there. >> yeah. right. >> it's very much a professional museum. >> yeah, yes. >> about his career. >> i think the bottom line on the museum is with things,

artifacts like that and also the gun we found with saddam hussein, it reflects not only his administration but his personality. >> so little about politics, sarah, in the museum itself. and yet, you know, the hanging chads are there. >> they are there. >> nothing on the '04 campaign sticks out. the political legacy is -- is something that's obviously probably something you're very proud of. winning two terms is tough. >> it is. look, the presidency is so much bigger than a campaign. president bush really conducted himself that way in office. everybody thinks that these presidents look at polls every morning. and it's all about the politics. but for him, it never was. it was about service to the people. so, sure, those of us who worked on the campaign would love to have a little corner about it. but it's not our library. it's his library. >> tony, there is -- seeing him in these interviews, there's something about it. it's like, boy, very familiar feeling. that's, you know, that's -- he

just sort of keeps shrugging his shoulders fwoi going, it is wha is. people are going to make judgments. is he excited about this? >> i think she's very excited about the center. he's really excited to see his team back here with him, too. he's been spending a lot of time the last few days getting a chance -- as all of us have been, actually. it's been a really wonderful reunion. but, you know, a lot happened in the administration. i don't think the library, you know, papers over any of it. you get a chance to see all of it. but, you know, there are things that live on from the administration. things that we pay attention to like a lot of the programs. you know, malaria, that go -- that go on outside of the library. i think he's most proud of -- of those things. and the library and the center will have a chance to continue to promote them. >> mark, i get the sense he's not -- he's doing the interviews because he has to. i don't know. is that a wrong way of doing it? he's not -- doesn't seem to be, like, wanting to have this public debate about his

presidency. >> no. he's not now and he hasn't for a number of years. he never really liked the spotlight that much. he liked the public service component of being president. but the media and the spotlight was never anything that he was particularly attracted to. so he likes being off the radar screen. he's happy to step forward with the museum and the library today. but i think he'll recede off the screen just as quickly. >> just as quickly. >> absolutely. >> friday comes. >> he'll be painting. >> sara, sort of the surprise news of the morning. we all knew there would be an unpredictable moment. it's a live event. there always is. my bet was on president carter. >> yep. >> but barbara bush making it clear she doesn't like the idea of jeb bush running for president. what do you make of that? >> i think it's no more simple than a mother protecting her son. you know, she more than anyone in america understands what going through a presidential campaign is like. when you love the person on the ballot. and she probably doesn't want to see that again. having aid that, there's no doubt in my mind that if

governor bush decides to seek the highest office in the land, she will be the biggest cheerleader. undoubtedly. >> that's got to have a little bit of an impact. >> i took it as an endorsement of george p. bush. >> who i call 47. granddaughter's 52. >> is that right? george p. and chelsea? >> sure. >> i thought it was an interesting way for her to put it. because it was -- that was the part of george w. bush's personality. george h.w. bush, the polite one, says the right thing. what he thinks somebody wants to hear on television. that was never barbara bush. >> god love her. that's what we love about her. so refreshing. wish there were more people like that in politics today. >> she is. >> that's definitely the cutting line that -- that we would see from him, from president bush from time to time, too. you know, what president bush also really hated was psychoanalyzing that kind of language. i wouldn't read too much into that except that it was a really

good line. >> well, fair enough. sara, i've been taken aback as i've been thinking abili ining bush legacy. we talk about the presidency. iraq, that's going to be a discussion people are going to have for a long time. when i was listening to reince priebus talk about what we thought was the problem with the republican party, i couldn't help but think, oh, he wants bush 2000. >> it's true. the president has always taken a long view certainly on policy, but also on politics. he understood when he was governor of texas. he used to say, you know, family values don't stop at the rio grande. he did a fantastic job of reaching out to new communities, hispanic communities. he was right in 2000 and 1994 and he's right today. that's a really important component for republicans moving forward. and it's great and refreshing to see our chairmanbracing the ide but is it important to the republican party that sort of the bush image get repaired a little bit? >> well, i think -- i think

today's events help us take a step back and look at them in a different context. i think that as we look back, not only was the politics good, but a lot of the policy was really good, too. it's going to hold up over time in the context of time and history. but, you know, i think about 2000. his message back then and earlier than that was a message that attracted conservative democrats and independents like me that expanded the republican party and the tent to -- to achieve a majority. that's what we've got to do again. >> it does seem as if that's what the party's looking for. that's the irony here. >> i think they are looking for -- i think what all of us want to see is, you know, whether it's the specifics on the policy or not, it's the courage to go after and try to tackle some of these really big issues that we're dealing with. whether it's social security reform, which we didn't succeed in doing, but i think trod a lot of ground on it. certainly on immigration reform. to be able to talk about these issues in ways that lead to solutions and not demagoguery. that's where the president was on those issues. we were proud of it.

i think that's what the party is is looking for today, too. >> sara fagen, tony fratty. the always dressed mark mackinnon. is that a george w. bush presidential library scarf? >> no labels. no ties. >> always plugging something. i got to love it. up next, how the bush presidency still echoes in the republican party. head to our website. rundown.msnbc.com for a look at how one former president bush ally could shake up the senate race in montana. > an obama surrogate versus a bush surrogate in montana. back at the white house, soup of the day today. little southwest theme. maybe it was fitting. maybe it was done on purpose. chicken tortilla. main event gets under way here in about an hour and 20 minutes. we'll be back from here at the george w. bush presidential library. >> states like these and their terrorist allies constitute an

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and without a line. now that's a fast car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. tofool me once, shame on -- shame on you. fool me, i can't get fooled again. >> estimated the will and determination of the commander in chief, too. ♪ >> i mess this part of bush. obama never does this stuff. one of the lighter moments there from bush's time in office. president obama's always a little more careful. president bush would dip into some of those things. we're back now live from dallas, texas. former president knows how to have a little fun as we showed you there. he also hasn't shied away from tough talk, particularly when it

comes to the state of the republican party. he recently said the party has to find a nominee that can stand by conservative principles and defend them to the american people. politico's jonathan martin. alphonsoing alphon alphonso augulair and dan balz. can the republican party win a nomination again without figuring out the bush legacy? >> possibly. they have to figure out how to deal with both the controversial parts of his time in office and also the things that he was talking about in the 2000 campaign that i think some people in the party believe they need to get back to, and i expect president bush, if he decided to talk about this, would recommend that. >> alphonso, it is ironic hearing -- i know what you're advocating for on immigration reform. but hearing the -- nobody uses the phrase, but it was the definition of what bush advisers in 2000 would say was compassionate conservatism.

>> correct. i think the republican party has a lot to learn from president bush and his legacy. but i think he understood that we could engage minorities like latino voters. he got great support from latino voters. but without compromising principles. and that's the difficult balance. because you don't want to start giving up principles, because you're going to end up with a big tent, but very empty. so i think president bush understood how to engage latinos. he had a great position on immigration. but also he engaged latinos and got their support, specifically hispanic and angelicals, by being pro-life, promarriage. for those who in the party establishment say let's stop talking about those social issues, those social issues were attractive with latino voters. >> jonathan, you look back at american history, a polarizingly unpopular president's lead to the other party winning a lot of presidential elections in a row. hoover led to five straight

democratic presidencies. you look at what carter did. led to three straight for the republicans. will bush be to blame again if somehow democrats win in '16? >> i think he will take a share of the blame. but i think you will see more -- more blame cast on a party that is resistant to modernizing. issues like immigration. other cultural matters. the real issue, because there's so much talk about immigration and gay marriage. the central problem to me for republicans is the economic issue. i mean, the obama folks -- >> they haven't figured out how to talk at the kitchen table. >> the obama folks will tell you obama care was popular with a lot of people. a lot of republicans want to say if we just fix immigration or just stop talking about gay marriage or abortion everybody will be hunky-dory. it's a more fundamental challenge for the party on economics. being the party of the middle class. >> dan, it's interesting on the social issues, i think you and i were -- you were remarking to me about this yesterday. not much on social issues in this library. >> no, there isn't.

that's actually not a surprise. because, i mean, the president very pro-life as a politician. and yet he didn't always lead with that. his conviction was clear, but he talked about a lot of other things. i mean, the social issue in a sense that he deals with more in his library is the initiative in africa -- >> humanitarian crisis. >> hiv/aids. >> i would say that that's part of rewriting history a little bit. you have to understand, president bush worked very closely with faith based organizations, with pastors, definitely within the hispanic community he worked very closely with hispanic evangelicals and emphasized his position on life and marriage. i mean, he in a joint session of congress endorsed an amendment to establish marriage between a man and a woman. and he was still popular with independents and latino. again, it's the -- the balance is how to get those voters without compromising principle. >> look, i can't let you go quickly. jeb bush, barbara bush. how about that? >> she still has her fast ball.

>> how about it? >> it's remarkable. here we are at the bush 43 library opening. and silver fox, as is her wont, steps up on the "today" show and says we've had enough bushes. >> with all the bushes. >> they all look and haven't said anything yet. >> george w. bush saying the past week you ought to run. >> run, jeb, run. >> thank you all. trivia. we asked who was the last person to beat george w. bush in an election? the answer -- >> constituent hance. >> he beat out bush for a democratic house seat, texas' 19th district back in the day. 1978. bush didn't run for office again until the 1994 gubernatorial race, and he's won every election since. congratulations to today's winner luke johnson. you got a political trivia question. e-mail thedailyrundown@msnbc.com. ose ns when it's more than a bad dream, be ready.

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dignitaries, bush veterans coming in, streaming in right now. it's a live picture here of the library. you see two sets of places where you get good seats. these are really good seats and then there's a little side area there. let's bring in the host of msnbc's "hardball" and will lead our coverage at 11:00 a.m. chris matthews, you first more than anything is a political junkie and history junkie. moments like this, five presidents together. >> yeah. i was thinking of a great joke, and i guess it would be a barroom joke. who are the only four presidents in the united states not buried in the states, not buried here? >> right. >> these guys. >> right. >> so i think it is great to have them together. i think there is sort of a club, as has been written about by our friends. i think that they will be nice to each other and supportive, and it's sort of -- it's sort of a gentleman's agreement that they be positive about each

other. something indecent about a president dumping on another president. very tricky histories like harry truman had no love for ike, for example. >> herbert hoover for very bitter for years. >> my favorite line is ronald reagan having beaten jimmy carter, and they are riding along in the car coming up to the capitol, and -- and reagan was trying to break the ice, so he's talking about his hollywood days which he always did, you know. it's all over, and afterwards jimmy carter calls up his friend who worked in hollywood for years and said who is jack warner? >> unbelievable, so they don't all have a lot in common, these guys, you know. >> we've been talking a lot about barbara bush's unexpected comments. >> i love it. >> coming out, could she be speaking of where the country is on this stuff, idea of hillary versus jeb, on the one hand, it's great, interesting, and maybe the country says, wait a minute, we're not the brits, not a monarchy. >> and there's always more than the two candidates in every election. >> that's right. >> there's the zeitgeist.

bill clinton was going to win in '92. >> that's right. >> and jack kennedy was probably going to -- you knew obama would win '08. >> there are years that are very tough, like 2000 and maybe '92, tougher to call, but this really looks like a hillary year coming up, and it really feels like it. women my age have been waiting to vote for women. >> and it's hillary. you're saying she's going to get elected because her name is hillary, rather than clinton. >> everybody knows a lot about her and know the whole story, and i think that she's a notch or two, do you think, to the right of the president, and very brilliant. always perfectly positioned in the sweet spot there, and i think, on the other hand, the bushes, just too many times, and i think that jeb is a very humble guy. >> right. >> his brother said he was going to be, turned out he didn't. he thinks he knows education really well. he'd be a great cabinet member, maybe a great vice president. i was thinking the other day, christie/bush, that might be a good ticket. >> you and i will talk a lot

about it in 50 minutes. chris will lead our coverage. that's it for "the daily run doup." msnbc's special coverage of the library dedication here will continue just before 11:00 a.m. where this guy, chris matthews, will be taking things over. see you tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. coming up next, chris jansing. bye-bye. i'm meteorologist bill karins. what a beautiful day it's going to be. as we go to the afternoon hours, high temperatures topping out 60s and 70s right up the eastern seaboard. dry weather in the middle of the country and finally warming up in areas like denver and billings. one more cool day for the northern plains and then the warm air heads for areas like minneapolis, and the west coast continues to enjoy beautiful sunshine. have a great day.

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